Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said Sept.30 he was “surprised” when his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, published a Sept. 18 article criticizing the pope for his position on China, saying it wasn’t the right venue for the discussion to take place.
The Vatican has proposed to the Chinese government that they extend an agreement signed in 2018 regarding the appointment of bishops, Vatican Media reported.
On Sept. 27, Pope Francis marked the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, asking the world to pray for those forced to flee their homes at the close of a deadly week in which around 200 migrants seeking entry into Europe drowned in the Mediterranean.
Pope Francis has accepted Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s resignation as prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes and his renunciation of the rights associated with being a cardinal, the Vatican announced late Sept. 24.
From the “dog that didn’t bark” files, it seems highly curious at first blush that a major peace accord for the Middle East was signed at the White House – with an explicitly religious reference in the title, no less – and, so far, the Vatican has had absolutely nothing to say about it.
About 10 days before he was expected in Rome, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that the Vatican “endangers its moral authority” by considering an extension of its 2018 agreement with China on the nomination of bishops.
Pope Francis told a group of parents of LGBT children Sept.16 that God loves them as they are, and that the Church loves them because they are “children of God.” The pontiff’s words came during a short, private encounter with some 40 Italian mothers and fathers of LGBT children that took place following his Sept.16 general audience.
Catholic representatives in Belarus said they were not invited to talks between Vatican and government officials and criticized a “lack of information” about the fate of their exiled bishops’ conference president.
Top officials from both China and the Vatican have given indications that the controversial agreement between the two on the appointment of bishops, which expires at the end of September, will be renewed.
In a letter to people participating in a virtual Marian pilgrimage, Pope Francis offered words of encouragement to families struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
